Thursday, April 14, 2011

Mug Shots

It was Vicki's idea to use coins over her eyes in the last image here. Great touch. The camera failed to get her profile at the left side into the frame though, but I still like this one a lot.
Above Mug Shot 1, 2 and Mug Shot(Failed Attempt) with Victorine Floyd Fludd, 2006

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Welcome

I imagine I'm not a typical photographer, being legally blind. The more standard "Visually impaired" is used often, but those words imply a lack of a VISION. A better term is “sight impaired”- its accurate, and doesn't take away one's individual, inner VISION. I am also an artist. A visual artist. I can see. A very small central area of sight remains when the light is bright. I have tunnel vision, or Retinitis Pigmentosa. I hate that word. It's far too elegant a word for such a devastating, random screw up of genetics. It is getting worse, slowly. No one with RP notices the change much over the short term, its so very slow to dissolve ones delicate retina, a gradual shutting out of the lights. I use a white cane.Why then do I make visual art? Logical question. I didn't know that I had a degenerative eye disease until I was nearly finished getting my Degree in Fine art at the Parsons School of Design. Painting is a consuming passion.

I joined a photography class for the blind and sight impaired around 1993, and it was this group of people who eventually started The Seeing With Photography Collective. Our photography teacher there, Mark Andres first introduced us to the photographic technique of "light painting".

As an art group, we've been making these works since 1997. Aperture published a volume of our work in 2002 called "Shooting Blind". This light painting resonates with me. You will see many light painting here.

It's a casual Blog, meant to delve into influences, experiences and reflection more than theory or issues.

I have seen determination ,passion, and such astonishing images created by the artists I work with. Some are totally blind, and rely on visual descriptions of the richly nuanced images they have just created. Sight has this presumed role in photography, and nudging this cozy notion raises eyebrows.

Please visit Seeing With Photography Collective's website, and other related places, located at the bottom of this page.